Wild Spoils Shutout, But Oilers Win 5-1

Jason Chimera had two goals and an assist, and Tommy Salo made 28 saves as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 Wednesday night.

Daniel Cleary, Shawn Horcoff and Todd Marchant also scored for the Oilers. Cleary also had an assist, while Steve Staios had two.

The victory gave the Oilers 59 points, tying them with Minnesota for second place in the Northwest Division, five points behind Vancouver.

Former Oiler Jim Dowd scored in the final period to spoil Salo's shutout bid. After a recent string of bad performances, Salo looked sharp.

He made a number of key stops early, including a glove save on Pierre-Marc Bouchard and a pad stop on a point-blank chance from Pascal Dupuis.

Chimera's first goal came at 3:46 of the first period on a hard slap shot that beat Minnesota goaltender Dieter Kochan. He added his second of the night, the game-winner, when a point shot from defenseman Janne Niinimaa deflected off Chimera and in at 12:06 of the second period.

Kochan started his first game of the season for the Wild. With Manny Fernandez out with a knee injury and Dwayne Roloson returning to Minnesota to be with his wife, who was giving birth, Kochan got the call.

The Saskatoon native, signed as a free agent this summer, had a 1-10-1 record, with a 3.88 goals-against average and a .865 save percentage in 20 career NHL games, all with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Recent call-up Jarret Stoll picked up an assist on his first NHL shift when he fed Chimera for the game's first goal. The former captain of the Canada national junior team was recalled from Hamilton of the AHL on Tuesday.

He had 15 goals and 20 assists in 51 games with the league-leading Bulldogs.

Cleary gave the Oilers a 3-0 lead with his third goal of the season. His last goal came on Dec. 7 in a 4-0 road win against the Florida Panthers.

Horcoff put Edmonton up by a four goals when he beat Kochan from in close at 2:42 of the third period.

Dowd scored when Salo went behind the net to try to clear the puck but had trouble handling it. Dowd picked up the pick and scored.

Notes:@ Edmonton forward Ryan Smyth, tied for the team lead in points with 43, missed his fifth consecutive game with a shoulder injury. … Minnesota has killed 38 of its last 39 penalties.